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Shub-Niggurath
Shub-Niggurath, otherwise known as The Black Goat of the Woods With a Thousand Young, or Shupnikkurat, or Ishnigarrab, is the Outer God of fertility. Appearance In the few times it has been summoned, Shub-Niggurath appeared as a great noxious cloud from which hoofed feet and tendrils constantly protruded and were re-absorbed. In the city of Harag-Kolath, it might appear as a dark bulk with myriad eyes. Shub-Niggurath has also assumed the shape of a cloaked figure whose face was hidden, but this was only an isolated instance. Shub-Niggurath is usually referred to as female, but has also been known by the title "Ram with a Thousand Ewes". One reference in the Cthaat Aquadingen says that the Outer God is both male and female. It is likely that Shub-Niggurath signifies the cosmic principle of fertility and childbearing, and attaching sex to any of the Outer Gods is problematic at best. Location The residence of Shub-Niggurath remains a mystery. One location that has been hypothesized is the planet Yaddith, beneath the surface of which it resides with its dhole servitors. Others insist that the Black Goat of the Woods came to earth, building the city of Harag-Kolath in a cavern beneath southern Arabia where it awaits the coming of its mate Hastur. (One source mantains that it lives beneath Mount Voormithadreth, but the description of it provided is much closer to that of Abhoth.) It is also possible that Shub-Niggurath remains at the court of Azathoth, or even in another dimension entirely. Nonetheless, it may be called in any woodland with a properly consecrated altar during a new moon, especially on May-Eve. Shub-Niggurath Cults Shub-Niggurath's cults may be the most widespread of any alien entity. It is known to have been worshipped by the Tcho-Tchos, Hyberboreans, Muvians, Greeks, Cretans, Egyptians, Druids, and people of Sarnath, as well as by the fungi from Yuggoth, the dholes, and the Nug-Soth of Yaddith. Sicily was a stronghold of Shub-Niggurath's cult during the ninth century, and the secret rites performed to it in its guide of Artemis of Ephesus are matters of legend. Others worshipped it in the guise of the North Heid and the Greek Hecate, and it may have been propitiated in the guise of the Great Earth Mother around the world. For those who serve it, Shub-Niggurath bestows bountiful harvests and many children to its worshippers in exchange for blood sacrifices. Some author's references to Shub-Niggurath (including Ludwig Prinn) assert that there is some similarity between her bodily structure and our own, but the significance of this is uncertain. References to Hastur the Unspeakable indicate that Shub-Niggurath has mated or will mate with this Great Old One, producing the creatures known as the Thousand Young. From this union, or possibly another with Yog-Sothoth, it has spawned the little-known entities Nug and Yeb. Yig has also been referred to as her "brother and mate". The milk of Shub-Niggurath, a substance with astounding mutagenic properties, has sometimes been found in the possession of cultists. Category:Pages Category:The Outer Gods